Device for lowering life-boats.



' c. J. CHRISTENSEN. DEVICE FOR LOWBRING LIFE BOATS.

APPLIGATIQN FILED JUNE 3, 1909.

Patented NOV. 16, 1909.

INVENTOR 67mm] '04 JUizm'JlenSen WITH/E8858 6M ATTORNEYS CHARLES J.CHRISTENSEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

DEVICE FOR LOVJERING LIFE-BOATS.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 16, 1909.

Application filed June 3, 1909. Serial No. 499,846.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES J. CHRISTEN- SEN, a subject of the King ofNorway, and a resident of the city of New York, Ulmer Park, borough ofBrooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented anew and Improved Device for Lowering Life-Boats, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention is an improvement in appliances for controlling thelowering of life boats from the davits of ships or vessels, etc. and hasfor its purpose to facilitate the launching of the boat and avoid thewearing on the ropes incident to passing the ropes about cleats andpermitting them to slip thereon under the weight of the life boat, as isthe usual practice. To this end I provide each suspending rope of thelife boat with a rope clamp, the clamps being secured to the davits ordeck of the boat and comprising two jaws between which the rope passes,and a cam lever for retracting the outer jaw and applying pressure tothe rope, the lever being fulcrumed at its outer end and pivoted at thecam to the outer jaw.

Reference is to be had to the accompan ing drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a section through the deck of a ship adjacent to one of thedavits, showing the latter in elevation broken away at the top andhaving my improved rope clamp applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a view of aportion of the davit and clamp, showing the outer or movable jaw of theclamp retracted to permit of the free movement of the rope; Fig. 3 is acentral vertical section of the clamp; Fig. 4 is a side view of theinner jaw and base of the clamp; Fig. 5 is an end view of the same; Fig.6 is a side view of the outer and movable jaw of the clamp; and Fig. 7is an end view of the same.

For the purpose of illustrating the use and application of my inventionI have shown the davit 10 as applied to the deck of a ship or vessel 11.To the outer face of the davit, when the same is turned inwardly, issecured at a convenient elevation for operation by one standing on thedeck of the boat, a rope clamp having a fixed and a movable jaw 12 and13 respectively, between which passes the usual suspending rope 14. forsupporting and lowering the life boat. The

jaws 12 and 13 are made relatively long and gouged or grooved on theirinner faces to give a substantial bearing on the rope. The inner aw ismade integral or otherwise rigid with a base-plate 15, which istransversely curved to conform to the cylindrical surface of the davit,the base being extended beyond the fixed jaw 12 at each end and at thesides in order that sufficient surface may be provided for the bolt orrivet openings and a substantial bearing on the davit afforded.

Rigid with the base and side faces of the fixed aw are pairs of guideposts 16 and 17 respectively, each pair of posts being located adjacentto the outer end portions of the jaws and projecting a substantialdistance beyond the clamping face of the fixed jaw to direct the movablejaw 13 in its movement. The movable jaw 13 is of a width approximatelyequal to the width of the jaw 12 and to the distance between either pairof posts. The posts at the upper or forward end of I the jaws are maderelatively stronger than the other pair of posts, as can be seen by thestrengthening ribs, best shown in Figs. 4% and 5, and are also slightlylonger to carry the fulcrum pin 18 of a cam lever 19, the cam 20 ofwhich is formed by offsetting the inner end portion at a substantialangle, as best shown in Fig. 3. The central portion of the cam isrecessed to receive an ear 21 projecting from the outer face near thecenter of the jaw 13, the ear and lever being connected by a pivot-pin23, so located as to bring the face of the cam into contact with theouter face of the jaw 13. As the cam is applied to the davit, the leverhangs downwardly so that its weight tends to force the movable jawinwardly to the fixed jaw, and by reason of its especial mounting andconnection with the movable jaw, when the lever is drawn outwardly thelower jaw will assume a downwardly and outwardly inclined position, asshown in Fig. 2, whereby the rope can freely enter the clamp and passtherethrough when the life boat is lowered.

In lowering the boat, the davits are swung outwardly in the usualmanner, which brings the clamps to the inside of the deck, where theyare accessible. With an operator at each clamp, the boat may be rapidlydropped and the descent quickly checked, enabling the launching to besuccessfully carried out in a fraction of the time required where thesuspending ropes are carried about the cleats and slipped thereon underthe weight of the boat, as is the usual practice, in addition toavoiding the great wear on the ropes caused by kinking them around andsliding them on the cleats.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. The combination of rope clamping jaws, one of which is fixed and theother laterally movable to and from the fixed jaw, guides to direct themovement of the movable jaw, arranged at opposite sides of the fixed jawand projecting beyond its clamping face, and an operating leverfulcrumed between the guides and having a cam inter mediate its lengthpivotally connected to the movable jaw.

2. The combination of a base, a rope clamping jaw rigid with the base,guide posts rigid with the base at the opposite sides and adjacent toone end of the said jaw, a rope clamping jaw laterally movable to andfrom the first-named jaw between said guide-posts, and a cam lever tooperate the movable jaw, fulcrumed at its outer end between said guideposts and pivoted to the movable jaw adjacent to the cam.

3. The combination of a fixed rope-clamping jaw, guide posts arranged inpairs at the opposite sides of the clamping jaw and extended beyond theclamping face thereof, a laterally movable rope-clamping jaw guidedbetween the posts, and an operating lever fulcrumed at its inner endbetween one pair of said posts and pivotally connected at anintermediate point to the movable clamping jaw.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES J. CHRISTENSEN.

Vitnesses F. D. AMMEN, PHILIP D. ROLLHAUS.

